Oakland man sentenced for pimping in Santa Rosa

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An Oakland man was sentenced to 14 years and eight months in state prison Monday for pimping women out of a hotel room in Santa Rosa, the Sonoma County district attorney said.

Vincent Andrew Rones, 51, was convicted of recruiting at least two of the women through social media to join him in Oakland.

He paid for their bus ticket from Indiana, and upon their arrival, made them pose for provocative photos that he posted on various prostitution-related websites, and then forced them into having sex with others, authorities said.

Santa Rosa police conducting a security check at the Extended Stay America Hotel on Corby Avenue in April 2013 noted the increased foot traffic in and out of a room occupied by Rones and five women.

Two of the women told authorities they were fearful of Rones and that he was forcing them to have sex for money.

Judge Shelly Averill doubled Rones’ sentence because a 1999 kidnapping conviction counted as a strike under the state’s three-strikes law. Rones will not be eligible for parole until he has served 80 percent of his sentence, prosecutors said.